Portfolio Category: Commercial

The Challenges

The Glass and Mirror Depot was a 9,000 square ft. metal warehouse building that was bought on vacant property in Elmwood. The warehouse acted as a glass and mirror showroom and was also utilized as an office for the business. The depot is a glass wholesaler meaning it only sells glass products to installers and not to the general public.

Typically with jobs like this one we are overqualified for the project. This comes with pro and cons. The pros being that it is cost efficient and we are almost always able to complete the project within a reasonable timeframe. Metal buildings are also more convenient because their upkeep is minimal and less costly than your more traditional wood buildings. This adds to their remarkably long life span.

Commercial jobs like this one are fairly straightforward and typically follow a similar construction outline. That being said, it makes jobs like these extremely competitive for commercial projects. Costa continues to prove themselves to be the best company for the job though. After successfully completing several metal buildouts for commercial businesses over the years, Costa has cemented their place as the go-to construction company for these types of projects in the greater New Orleans region.

Project Description

Location: 613 Royal St, New Orleans, LA 70130

The Court of Two Sisters is a New Orleans, courtyard style restaurant that is well known for its unique brunches and Creole buffet. In 2015, they hired us to do some renovations and repair work on their restaurant, and we knew right away we had quite a challenge ahead of us.

Gallery

The Challenges

The restaurant is located on Royal Street in the French Quarter, but its entrance is located at the back of the restaurant on Bourbon Street. Both streets are known for being high traffic areas since locals and tourists have made them one of the cities many social hubs. We welcomed this challenge and did not allow it to obstruct our plans for reconstruction. We worked closely with a full service architect drawing plans and coming up with ideas on how to renovate the restaurant while still remaining operational and within the budget.

The list of things that needed to be completed included renovating the hot and cold buffet stations, redesigning the omelet and waitress stations, and making structural repairs to the terrace area. The waitress station was originally very small, but it was redesigned to look more appealing and interconnected with the terrace. We also had to clean up old electrical work and make sure it was up to code like the omelet station, which was upgraded from gas powered to electric induction heat range units. This idea allowed the elimination of the ventilation hood, which in turn created the larger station they were looking for. In between the terrace and buffet station, a large structural steel beam had rotted and needed to be repaired as well.

There were quite a few obstacles we ran into while working on this project. For one, the restaurant could not be shut down entirely because it is a well-known tourist destination, and it has a reputation to uphold. So the front of the restaurant and the kitchen remained open while the buffet and terrace area were temporarily closed. Just like many businesses located in the heart of the French quarter, the Court of Two Sisters has residential neighbors and must adhere to strict noise ordinances, which restricted most of the renovations from being performed anytime after hours. There was also a considerable amount of water and mold damage found in the doors and walls of the terrace area, which forced us to tear out the exterior walls, assess the damage, and rebuild them.

The time span for this project was shorter than one would expect (two weeks), but it was necessary because of the popularity of the restaurant and how much traffic it generated. This required us to make most of the millwork in our shop before the first day of demolition rather than on location. Our shop-built items included picture moulding framed panels lining the exterior walls of the terrace, custom-made French doors for the terrace and buffet area, and all of the structural work for the hot and cold buffet lines.

The final product was finished on time and looked absolutely wonderful. The lovely people over at The Court of Two Sisters could not have been a better group of people to work with due to their collaborative work nature and their helpfulness. We look forward to conducting more business with them in the future.

Project Description

The Challenges

Located in Lakeview On Harrison Ave., Reginelli’s Pizzeria could be described as the perfect client. The pizzeria opened in 1996, and in 2002 they contracted Costa to begin the renovation process on their stores. There was and continues to be a close working relationship between Costa and the beloved pizzeria that has resulted in a mutually beneficial relationship. Trust and direct communication was vital for moving the renovation process along at a steady pace and ensuring that the deadline for completion was met on time. Constant contact with Reginelli’s was very important because it guaranteed that everything was on schedule and all updates were made known in a timely manner.

The project was fairly straightforward with the only concern being the location space. Harrison Ave. is a high traffic area so it was important to be mindful of some safety precautions such as not obstructing traffic, keeping the area clean, and keeping pedestrians safe.

There were two contracts for this project: one for the interior and one for the exterior. The exterior was the more challenging of the two because it required tearing half of the building apart in order to properly renovate it. All of the interior work such as custom-made cabinets and designs were completed in Costa’s workshop and then brought on site to the restaurant. This was done in order to save time and cut costs.

The building needed to have the same aesthetic as all the other Reginelli’s restaurants because uniformity is a staple of the pizza chain. Their custom-made wall décor and furniture is easily recognizable to anyone who has eaten at one of their many locations in and around the Greater New Orleans Region. Costa worked extremely close with the owner to make sure all the interior designs and woodwork was made exactly how they wanted it. In our shop, we used our Computer Numerical Control (CNC) Router, which is a machine used to cut the material precisely the way it’s meant to be designed using algorithms from a computer program. The CNC Router is a lot more practical for making casework more precise and less time consuming. Once the deadline was met, Reginelli’s was quite pleased with the finished product.

Project Description

Client: Reginelli’s Pizza

Located in Kenner near Chateau Country Club, Reginelli’s Pizzeria could be described as the perfect client. The pizzeria opened in 1996, and in 2002 they contracted Costa to begin the renovation process on their stores. There was and continues to be a close working relationship between Costa and the beloved pizzeria that has resulted in a mutually beneficial relationship. Trust and direct communication was vital for moving the renovation process along at a steady pace and ensuring that the deadline for completion was met on time. Constant contact with Reginelli’s was very important because it guaranteed that everything was on schedule and all updates were made known in a timely manner.

The project was fairly straightforward with the only concern being the location space. Kenner is a high traffic area so it was important to be mindful of some safety precautions such as not obstructing traffic, keeping the area clean, and keeping pedestrians safe.

There were two contracts for this project: one for the interior and one for the exterior. The exterior was the more challenging of the two because it required tearing half of the building apart in order to properly renovate it. All of the interior work such as custom-made cabinets and designs were completed in Costa’s workshop and then brought on site to the restaurant. This was done in order to save time and cut costs.

The building needed to have the same aesthetic as all the other Reginelli’s restaurants because uniformity is a staple of the pizza chain. Their custom-made wall décor and furniture is easily recognizable to anyone who has eaten at one of their many locations in and around the Greater New Orleans Region. Costa worked extremely close with the owner to make sure all the interior designs and woodwork was made exactly how they wanted it. In our shop, we used our Computer Numerical Control (CNC) Router, which is a machine used to cut the material precisely the way it’s meant to be designed using algorithms from a computer program. The CNC Router is a lot more practical for making casework more precise and less time consuming. Once the deadline was met, Reginelli’s was quite pleased with the finished product.

Gallery

The Challenges

Located uptown on the corner of State and Magazine Street, Reginelli’s Pizzeria could be described as the perfect client. The pizzeria opened in 1996, and in 2002 they contracted Costa to begin the renovation process on the store. There was and continues to be a close working relationship between Costa and the beloved pizzeria that has resulted in a mutually beneficial relationship. Trust and direct communication was vital for moving the renovation process along at a steady pace and ensuring that the deadline for completion was met on time. Constant contact with Reginelli’s was very important because it guaranteed that everything was on schedule and all updates were made known in a timely manner.

The project was fairly straightforward with the only concern being the location. Uptown is a high traffic area so it was important to be mindful of some safety precautions such as not obstructing traffic, keeping the area clean, and keeping pedestrians safe.

There is precedent when dealing with uptown structures since most of the buildings located in the area share similar design features and often encounter the same problems such as termite damage, water damage, and deterioration from wear and tear over the years. The building was old and dilapidated, which brought up the question of whether to tear it down and erect a brand new one in its place, or begin the process of major renovations. Although it would have cost less to tear down the existing building and build a brand new one in its place, the decision was made to go with the latter choice. The building is a historical structure and tearing it down would have only prolonged construction.

There were two contracts for this project: one for the interior and one for the exterior. The exterior was the more challenging of the two because it required tearing half of the building apart in order to properly renovate it. All of the interior work such as custom-made cabinets and designs were completed in Costa’s workshop and then brought on site to the restaurant. This was done in order to save time and cut costs.

The building needed to have the same aesthetic as all the other Reginelli’s restaurants because uniformity is a staple of the pizza chain. Their custom-made wall décor and furniture is easily recognizable to anyone who has eaten at one of their many locations in and around the Greater New Orleans Region. Costa worked extremely close with the owner to make sure all the interior designs and woodwork was made exactly how they wanted it. In our shop, we used our Computer Numerical Control (CNC) Router, which is a machine used to cut the material precisely the way it’s meant to be designed using algorithms from a computer program. The CNC Router is a lot more practical for making casework more precise and less time consuming. Once the deadline was met, Reginelli’s was quite pleased with the finished product.